Being sued by my attorneys

[surfer4life]

What is the name of your state? CA
My attorneys settled my case without my consent nor did I have knowledge that a settlement was being negotiated. No where in our contract for representation did it authorize my attorneys to settle the case without my consent. Supposedly, this settlement deprived my attorneys of their fees, now they are trying to sue me in court. I have won a default judgement against them because they filed the summons incorrectly. Now they have refiled the case. Is this ethical and what recourse do I have?


Thanks for your time

[Dandy Don]

How much was the settlement for and what type of lawsuit were they representing you on (personal injury, malpractice?, etc.)? How much in legal fees are they saying they were deprived of?

Is there a record of phone calls or letters where they kept you informed about the ongoing negotiations regarding the settlement?

You seriously need to be consulting with another attorney on this. What they are alleging doesn't make sense--they should have known in advance that the settlement amount they settled for would not be enough to cover their legal fees and they should have obviously asked for more money. Something is fishy here.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA (tiekh@yahoo.com)

[seniorjudge]

Originally Posted by surfer4life

What is the name of your state? CA
My attorneys settled my case without my consent nor did I have knowledge that a settlement was being negotiated. No where in our contract for representation did it authorize my attorneys to settle the case without my consent. Supposedly, this settlement deprived my attorneys of their fees, now they are trying to sue me in court. I have won a default judgement against them because they filed the summons incorrectly. Now they have refiled the case. Is this ethical and what recourse do I have?


Thanks for your time

surfer4life


Now there is one worthy goal!

[surfer4life]

Originally Posted by Dandy Don

How much was the settlement for and what type of lawsuit were they representing you on (personal injury, malpractice?, etc.)? How much in legal fees are they saying they were deprived of?

Is there a record of phone calls or letters where they kept you informed about the ongoing negotiations regarding the settlement?

You seriously need to be consulting with another attorney on this. What they are alleging doesn't make sense--they should have known in advance that the settlement amount they settled for would not be enough to cover their legal fees and they should have obviously asked for more money. Something is fishy here.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA (tiekh@yahoo.com)

My lawyers were representing me on a consumer credit issue for $35,000. Yea, seems a little much, but that's what they aimed for. We lost through arbitration and the defendants were awarded much more than I, but that was set aside in a motion to reconsider that I didn't even know about till an attorney friend retrieved the court dockets. The order was for both parties to negotiate a settlement. I was never involved in that settlement. No conference, no letters, no nothing. I also discovered through the dockets that the case was dismissed without cost to either side (Didn't know this). My attorneys then informed me that I violated a clause in our contract stating that I accepted a settlement from the defendants that didn't compensate them for their fees. Huh? Accepted a settlement? Not to my knowledge. You know the rest.

[Dandy Don]

To your knowledge have the attorneys received a check from the other side, or have you received a check or signed any paperwork regarding a settlement? Their explanation does not make sense at all. Looks like all you need to do to defend yourself is to tell the truth about what actually happened and let your attorneys be embarrassed with egg on their faces as they attempt to explain what happened. They appear to have no evidence against you but it's hard to figure out why they would even bring suit.

[surfer4life]

My friend is a corporate attorney. We spoke more about it today and looked at the dockets a little more in-depth. He said "we" have some very interesting things that "we" can do. He is also going to consult with his partner about this. Looks like I might have this problem covered. And...he said this is gonna be "fun". Not really sure what he meant by that. I just nodded with a smile. Anyways, this eleviates alot of stress. Thanks for your comments. Oh, looks like I'll be giving him free surfing lessons. I don't mind